Wolves moving West

[Guest 300ultramag.]

vote palin.

[Sam]

Ofcourse the way they are managing the elk population we might be in trouble.

 

I agree on the poor management of the elk herd. The Game and Fish are allocating way too many permits in some areas. Look at 5A - I have hunted this area on and off for elk and deer since 1980. This is always my first choice for both species. I have hunted from the pinon/junipers to along the rim (6,000ft to 7400ft). The increase in rifle bull tags have more than doubled in the last 5 years.

 

I drew a tag this year - one of 340. I thought to myself, man this is alot of tags. But I know the unit and had confidence that I could get away from hunters. I hunted for 5 days in areas that I have shot elk and have always seen multiple bulls on any given day. I DID NOT SEE 1 ELK. I couldn't believe it. My friend hunted for 7 days and jumped 2 elk. We are both experienced hunters and hunted in completely different areas of the unit.

 

Too increase the permits from less than 100 bull tags 6 or 7 years ago to 340 is ludicrous. I know that animal management is done more effectively by controlling the female population, but AZGFD has destroyed the elk population in 5A.

 

LOWER THE NUMBER OF ELK TAGS! And get rid of the wolves.

[200"mulie]

imagine a wolf hunt like they do up north!!

 

that would be something else.

 

Game and fish could make a lot of money if they start to put tags out for them

[catclaw]

I hate to say it, but all of you who think the AZGFD have your best interests in mind better take a hard look. Who the heck do you think is in the forefront of this mess. Tons of your money you spend on hunting and fishing is being spent on ruining your hunting and fishing.

 

 

All the people I have seen actively doing wolf stuff have been USFW or USDA. All Feds or college students.

[Browning'sCustomMeat]

Hmmmmm I wonder what a woof tastes like....

[HVY DROP]

I am a hunter, but with that being said, I would love to see wolves make a come back to their original range. I don't know how they would do it properly, but I would like to see it done. I would love to be able to hunt Mexican Greys in AZ. But, the state has to be smart and manage the wolf just as it would any other species. If the states are smart about this it would bring income to the state. Until they figure it out, they need to think seriously about the impact that this predator will have on the game species in AZ. I love the outdoors and I love the animals that I see every time I am out. There is a place for wolves in their original range, but it must be thoughtfully debated and managed.

[oz31p]

That's good cause before long the mexican gray wolfs will be the only animal in the state with populations high enough to sustain hunting. But the fed will never allow it.

[cw4192]

seen one with a collar in 6a near clear creek about five years ago. researched it and found out that a pair had pups along clear creek near little buckhorn mnt. game and fish and the nat'l forest people know that these animals are there and are a problem that got out of control

[rogeti]

Arizona’s Game and Fish Commission supports

Congressional efforts to delist gray wolves

 

 

Dec. 4, 2010

 

 

PHOENIX — After a lengthy meeting, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission (Commission) today voted 4-1 to support Congressional actions to delist the gray wolf from protection under the Endangered Species Act.

 

The Commission sees this as an opportunity to break through the gridlock in the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction program and welcomes the opportunity to manage this important species.

 

The Commission desires to work with every stakeholder, and all who are willing to come to the table to negotiate and seek solutions to issues. Local governments, sportsmen, livestock operators, and environmentalists have all reiterated support for Mexican gray wolf conservation in Arizona, as does the Commission.

 

To learn about the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s role in the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction, visit www.azgfd.gov/wolf.

 

 

I got this from the AZGFD email

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

 

 

My wife saw a lone wolf... unmistakeably larger than a coyote... at the intersection of the Young road and Hwy 260 3 Dec. ago... they are around... and they are bad news for us all.

[.270]

rogeti, who are the sportsmen and livestock operators that are in favor of it? i guess they mighta got one o' each to say it's cool. the azgfd has an entire group o' folks dedicated to the extinct mexican wolf. officers, techs, office people, vehicles, equipment, offices. they get a big chunk o' change from the feds for buying into it. there are probly quite a few treehuggers in the dept that support it idealistically, but the main reason the dept supports it is $$$$. the program is a farce and isn't designed to be successfull, mainly because there isn't any such thing as a mexican wolf, but also because it isn't about the wolf, it's about control. just another tool to pry folks off the land. the miexican wolf is extint and has been for decades. not one the these things they call wolves, are. they are all part dog. they have been pen raised by hippies that think they can teach em to be a wild animal. they can't exist without innoculation, feeding, regular checkups, etc. they ain't a wild animal. they're just feral dogs, at best. heck, feral dogs would have had more success than these things. Lark.

[billrquimby]

rogeti, who are the sportsmen and livestock operators that are in favor of it? i guess they mighta got one o' each to say it's cool. the azgfd has an entire group o' folks dedicated to the extinct mexican wolf. officers, techs, office people, vehicles, equipment, offices. they get a big chunk o' change from the feds for buying into it. there are probly quite a few treehuggers in the dept that support it idealistically, but the main reason the dept supports it is $$$$. the program is a farce and isn't designed to be successfull, mainly because there isn't any such thing as a mexican wolf, but also because it isn't about the wolf, it's about control. just another tool to pry folks off the land. the miexican wolf is extint and has been for decades. not one the these things they call wolves, are. they are all part dog. they have been pen raised by hippies that think they can teach em to be a wild animal. they can't exist without innoculation, feeding, regular checkups, etc. they ain't a wild animal. they're just feral dogs, at best. heck, feral dogs would have had more success than these things. Lark.

 

Lark, this is one of the few instances that I disagree with you. Releasing these animals wouldn't be a long-term threat if they really couldn't exist without inoculations, feeding, checkups, etc. There is evidence that they are breeding in the wild, though, and as this thread shows they are learning how to kill large mammals to feed themselves.

 

Like Hvy Drop, I am not against bringing wolves back to Arizona (I will draw the line with grizzly bears, though.) However, I support reintroduction only with the provisos that wolves be managed by the state and not the federal government, and that ranchers be compensated for their losses.

 

State management also must include the option of sport hunting of wolves to keep their numbers within minimal sustainable numbers. Unfortunately, this is something several influential Arizona groups and individuals would never allow.

 

Bill Quimby

[.270]

bill, i could live with it a lot better if they had any wolves. they don't. if you dig into the original stuff they put out, every animal they have is part dog. every one of em. and they all come from just 4 or 5 ancestors. they have to give em all parvo and other shots because they are part dog. parvo liked to wiped em out a couple years ago. they had to try and round up every one of em to give em a shot. yeah, they breed in the wild. but so would feral dogs. i've made 3 of the gov't wolf people admit to me that they are all part dog. they admitted it, because they knew i had the documentation to back it up. my daughter did a research paper on this subject in college and a couple azgfd biologists told her the same thing. at least one in writing. if you look at the release in the yellowstone area, it took off from the very beginning. they never had a hard time getting a sustainable population. for one reason, and it didn't have anything to do with the superior intellect and skill of the usfw, it was because they were real, live, wild wolves that were just captured a few weeks before. they turned em loose on a game population that didn't have a clue what they were and they thrived. they did better than they ever wanted em too, and then when the numbers were several times what the usfw guidelines called for, they sued to keep em listed. that right there showed that they never intended for the program to succeed and when it did they were in a panic about what to do. they've shot a few hunting, legally, but there is ongoing litigation as we speak, and always will be. this mexican wolf program has been going on for as long as the yellowstone program, and it has been a miserable failure. they aren't even close to their target numbers, they have to practically hand feed em still, they contradict themselves continually, the females regularly breed with domestic dogs, because the male "wolves" don't know how, when one actually starts to act like a wild wolf, they shoot it, the whole program is a joke and it's costing over a million bucks per wolf. that ain't a lot in the scheme of things, but it is a lot. these things they are trying to pawn off as wolves ain't, and they won't ever make it on their own. everything seems to have gotten along fine without em for about 50 years. i don't see any reason to waist any more time or resources on something that only causes hardship for folks that use the land. Lark

[rogeti]

I dont agree with the wolves. i think they are bad for the deer and elk populations, because not only do the deer and elk have to worry about the wolves, they have US chasing them from August-February. I think if your gonna have the wolves then you gotta cut us out or them. the deer and elk are the ones paying.

 

And as I said i got that from the website AZGFD. Just thought it was interesting!!

[krp]

I saw a collared female wolf on the 4B side of Forest Lakes in '99 during archery elk season, saw it two times and my buddy saw it once. called G&F and the lady said they were looking for a female that left whatever area it was in. I believed then and still do now, these 'escapes' were planned.

 

More predator pressure, whether coyotes because of no more trapping, lions, wolves and humans having 8 hunting seasons in a unit... is the number 1 detriment to deer populations.

 

Too many agendas....

 

Kent